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Beatty Creek Research Natural AreaRoseburg District , BLMKlamath Mountains EcoregionCell(s):
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Access by paved road and trails
The 350 ha Beatty Creek RNA was established in 1983 to protect serpentine plant communities. Located 16 kilometers southwest of Myrtle Creek, in Douglas County, Oregon, the RNA encompasses the entire lower portion of the Beatty Creek watershed, a small, perennial stream that drains into Cow Creek, a tributary of the South Umpqua River. Elevation ranges from 415 to 745 m. The climate is characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters with an average precipitation of 102 cm per year. Special status species in the RNA include a moss, Pseudoleskeella serpentinensis, Bolander's onion (Allium bolanderi var. mirabile), wayside aster (Eucephalis vialis), spring phacelia (Phacelia verna), California sandwort (Minuartia californica) and Douglas monkeyflower (Mimulus douglasii). Most of the RNA is underlain by serpentine bedrock, except at the mouth of Beatty Creek where marine siltstone, sandstone, and conglomerate bedrock are visible as exposed rock outcrops. Soils and flora differ over the two types of bedrock. The weathering of serpentine and peridotite ultramafic bedrock led to shallow, rocky, xeric soils on steep slopes (Dubakella-Pearsoll soils). The well-drained, gravelly loams of the Josephine-Speaker soil complex derived from marine conglomerates. Jeffrey pine (Pinus jeffreyi) savanna dominates the upland, serpentine-influenced slopes, with scattered incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens), Pacific madrone (Arbutus menziesii), and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii). Buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus), poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), and oceanspray (Holodiscus discolor) comprise the shrub component. A band of mixed forest along the riparian zone includes Douglas fir, incense cedar, Port Orford cedar (Cupressus lawsoniana), Oregon ash (Fraxinus latifolia), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), bay laurel (Umbellularia californica), and red alder (Alnus rubra). Phytophthora lateralis (Port Orford root rot) is not known in the drainage. The marine conglomerate bedrock supports a Douglas fir forest with Pacific madrone, Jeffrey pine, canyon live oak (Quercus chrysolepis), and bay laurel. Noxious weeds have spread from the Cow Creek road to occupy the marine rock outcrops. Past disturbances include wildfire, a spur road (now blocked), old mining prospect pits and, on the newly acquired parcel, logging and a network of skid trails. Steve Shelly (1985, Oregon State University) wrote his MS Thesis on Phacelia capitata. In 2004, a description of the RNA was published in Kalmiopsis, the journal of the Native Plant Society of Oregon.| Home | About RNAs | Interagency Program | Research Use | RNA Sites | Bibliography | Links |